A conventional transmission electron microscope (TEM) has a mode of operation in which a focused electron beam is scanned across a thin object and in which intensities of electrons having traversed the object are detected. The intensities detected in dependence of the various scan position represent a transmission electron microscopic image of the object. This scanning mode of operation of the transmission electron microscope is also referred to as a STEM-mode of operation.
Conventional transmission electron microscopes are optimized to achieve maximum image resolutions at a relatively small image fields and, accordingly, a relatively small number of image locations. However, conventional transmission electron microscopes are less suited to inspect large image fields at high resolutions and a high throughput.